China has produced the first in a new generation of maglev trains capable of reaching speeds of up to 600 km / h (373 mph), almost half the speed of sound. He says these will be the fastest ground transportation services available on the planet.

The new maglev system was revealed to the public in Qingdao yesterday by its maker, Chinese state-owned CRRC Corporation, which said the new trains could cover the 1,200-kilometer (745 odd-mile) journey between Beijing and Shanghai in three and a half hours of child’s play, including waiting time. That’s compared to two hours, five minutes by plane or twelve hours by road.

It is not yet clear where exactly these machines will be deployed, but Nikkei Asia points out that the CRRC exports trains all over the world, “especially to countries that have signed the Beijing Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.” Trains can be configured to have between two and 10 cars, each of which can hold up to 100 passengers depending on the layout.

China claims it will be the fastest land vehicle on the planet, although the Central Japan Railway Company has already tested its own high-speed maglev to a world record of 603 km / h (375 mph). So maybe the standard cruising speed of this one will beat the Japanese train, or maybe its creators think it has a hell of a top speed.

According to China World time, the “whirlwind” braking system on these things is considerably more efficient than previous efforts; this train will only take 10 km (6.2 miles) to stop, where Shanghai’s current maglev train takes 16 km (10 miles).

If regular high-speed maglev trains regularly hit this kind of speed, companies working on hyperloop-type projects will need to start aiming considerably higher. Because building a maglev rail is so expensive – and it is very expensive – hyperloops force operators to build maglev systems at very high speed. inside tubes fully air sealed, then use vacuum pumps to keep the air pressure inside low enough to reduce the wind resistance.

If CRRC demonstrates that you can get 600 km / h performance with regular maglev, hyperloops will have to roll out the door much faster to claim their higher costs.

Indeed, these new CRRC trains have their own battle to prove their commercial viability. The Guardian reports that the small-scale high-speed maglev between Shanghai’s CBD and its international airport about 30 km (19 miles) cost around US $ 1.14 billion to build, and has consistently lost around US $ 100 million every year since it opened in 2004.

Check out a short video below.

Source: Xinhua